10 Times WWE Caved To Public Pressure
5. ...Rigged Game
WWE had from August 2013 onwards to try and convince audiences that Daniel Bryan main eventing WrestleMania 30 wasn't what they wanted, but each vain effort only galvanised the long and loud requests for the 'Yes Man' to get the opportunity he so richly deserved.
The company's efforts were so laughably transparent too. Bryan's weekly beatings from The Shield and Randy Orton didn't bury him, so management instead shifted him into a programme with The Wyatt Family. Audiences flatly refused to buy his storyline conversion to the cult, forcing WWE to bin it within weeks. It made for one of Raw's most emotional climaxes shortly before the infamous 2014 Royal Rumble.
His exclusion that night was the final straw - fans projected a disgusted loathing upon eventual winner Dave Batista and anybody else perceived to be responsible for Bryan's oppression until he was at long last shoehorned into the scene by virtue of opening match speedbump Triple H.
'Yes-tleMania' was the catharsis many had chased for months on Bryan's behalf. Rapturous celebrations from the New Orleans capacity crowd greeted his win as one for them over the evil WWE machine, intriguingly in keeping with Daniel's own storyline takedown of The Authority.